Lentils with Veggies

In yesterday’s blog post I mentioned having food pre-prepared so that when I get home from work I don’t have to worry about what to eat. Well, this week’s lunch worked out really well. Of course food eaten fresh always beat eating something that’s a few days old, sometimes things get so hectic that I just don’t have the luxury. This week’s mass production was lentils. I made 4 servings of lentils – and on each day I steamed some veggies to add to the dish, so at least they were fresh. To add a bit of a different texture to the veggies I’d lightly spray a nonstick pan with nonfat cooking spray (1 short spray) and heat the veggies in the pan to crisp them up a bit. I know this means that I had the same thing for lunch 4 days straight — but lately I’m choosing boring + healthy over creativity.

(I know, not the most flattering photo – but I promise it tastes much, much better than it came out in the photo!)

Ingredients:

1 cup red lentils

4 cups water

1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric

1/4 teaspoon chili powder

1 large tomato, cut into wedges

1 jalapeno, diced

2 tablespoons chopped coriander leaves

salt to taste

Directions:

1. Wash the lentils thoroughly

2. Put lentils in a pot, add the water, turmeric, and chili powder (and salt if using) and simmer for 40 minutes

3. Add the tomato wedges and diced jalapeno and bring the lentils to boil. [The longer you let it boil the thicker the mixture will become] (5-10 minutes)

For the vegetables:

1. Steam the vegetables

2. Spray (just once) a nonstick pan and add the veggies to crisp up (2-3 minutes)